(extracted from Simple Testimony, 1845)
The Aaronical priesthood is provisional for evil without reference to judgment.
In it we have purity, discerning between good and evil, entering into the holiest, intercession, and blessing by virtue of sacrifice before Aaron came down. Lev. 9:22.
This Christ is now, as to service, while He is priest after the order of Melchisedec.
We understand our title to royalty in Melchisedec, priest of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth; not merely the God of Israel but the God of the whole earth, — the gods of the Gentiles all set aside, and the Lord Jesus the centre and minister of all this blessing; blessing the people, and blessing God for the people, not merely interceding for sinners; though this is the foundation of the other.
But after all, we are not to consider the Melchisedec, in one sense, higher than the Aaronic.
We are kings with Melchisedec. The King becomes priest: this is perfection. It is not, in one sense, perfection to have the Lord Jesus Christ interceding for our imperfection: but out blessing is, to be associated with Him in all His blessing. He becomes Mediator to the earth of blessing, specially to the Jews, but to the whole earth.
As regards Aaronic priesthood, we get another thing — present mediation for the church.
We must always hold these two things — mediation and union.
Christ's intercession for us is to maintain our communion wit God in the righteousness we are made in Him.
Our union with Him is in resurrection; and we are brought into conflict wit the Canaanites because redeemed out of Egypt.
We were slaves of Pharaoh, but are conquerors of the Canaanites.
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John Nelson Darby (1800 - 1882)
was an Anglo-Irish Bible teacher, one of the influential figures among the original Plymouth Brethren and the founder of the Exclusive Brethren. He is considered to be the father of modern Dispensationalism and Futurism ("the Rapture" in the English vernacular). Pre-tribulation rapture theology was popularized extensively in the 1830s by John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren, and further popularized in the United States in the early 20th century by the wide circulation of the Scofield Reference Bible.He produced a translation of the Bible based on the Hebrew and Greek texts called The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation from the Original Languages by J. N. Darby. Darby traveled widely in Europe and Britain in the 1830s and 1840s, and established many Brethren assemblies. He gave 11 significant lectures in Geneva in 1840 on the hope of the church (L'attente actuelle de l'église). These established his reputation as a leading interpreter of biblical prophecy.
John Nelson Darby was an Anglo-Irish evangelist, and an influential figure among the original Plymouth Brethren. He is considered to be the father of modern Dispensationalism. He produced a translation of the Bible based on the Hebrew and Greek texts called The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation from the Original Languages by J. N. Darby.
John Nelson Darby graduated Trinity College, Dublin, in 1819 and was called to the Irish bar about 1825; but soon gave up law practice, took orders, and served a curacy in Wicklow until, in 1827, doubts as to the Scriptural authority for church establishments led him to leave the institutional church altogether and meet with a company of like-minded persons in Dublin.
Darby traveled widely in Europe and Britain in the 1830s and 1840s, and established many Brethren assemblies. These established his reputation as a leading interpreter of biblical prophecy. He was also a Bible Commentator. He declined however to contribute to the compilation of the Revised Version of the King James Bible.